A recent New England Journal review of post-menopausal osteoporosis (OP) provided updated information, strategies and a review of guidelines and clinical recommendations. Here are the salient highlights.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews this past week's news and journal reports from RheumNow.com. Good news is that nearly 99% of adult rheumatology positions matched! But the challenge is that 45% of pediatric fellowship programs and 39% of pediatric rheum slots were unfilled in the 2024 NRMP match.

While adult rheumatology programs continue to have high match rates, pediatric rheumatology programs remain less popular.The National Residency Matching Program announced yesterday that the 2024 rheumatology fellowship match filled 97.6% (124/127) of programs, and 98.9% (273/276) of rheumatology fellowship positions. This is on par with last years (2023) adult rheumatology match wherein 97.8% (265/271) of the rheumatology fellow positions were filled.

You know this; you've taught this; but here's a good study documenting a higher risk of methotrexate toxicity when used in the setting of older patients with chronic kidney disease.

Yesterday's JAMA published a higher 90-day risk of serious adverse events in older adults with CKD taking low-dose methotrexate, compared to hydroxychloroquine.

In this week's podcast, Dr. Jack Cush reviews the ACR Convergence 2023 meeting and proposes how to best learn at your next large medical meeting.

Most rheumatologists, if asked, would say that every rheumatoid arthritis patient should be started on a DMARD of some sort - if not at diagnosis, then pretty soon after. So I am genuinely shocked that, in a large United States Medicare 20% sample dataset between 2008-17, less than 30% of new RA patients aged 66 years or older have a DMARD initiated.

Chronic low back pain is a common complaint that brings patients to the doctor’s attention. Although the majority of low back pain is mechanical in nature, an important minority is inflammatory in nature.

Drs. Jack Cush and Arthur Kavanaugh discuss highlights and key takeaways from ACR 23.

Over the years of navigating the annual meeting, I found the sessions with the most impact to my practice were the Plenary Sessions. During these sessions, the latest research is presented, new ideas are floated, and old myths debunked. Here are the top ACR2023 Plenary abstracts I found impactful for my practice.

Guidelines (ACR/EULAR/GRAPPA) for the management of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) recommend the early referral of patients with the suspected condition for early assessment and treatment.

Most rheumatologists know that it is important to get pregnancy planning right for women of childbearing age living with rheumatic diseases. That is easier said than done, though: the details are difficult, it is overwhelming for the patient, and the conversations are hard.

The RheumNow faculty reporters have been scouring the meeting for what they believe to be the best presentations from the first day at ACR 2023 in San Diego.  From hundreds of online presentations, the poster floor and the plenary podium, here are some of the best abstracts from Sunday Nov. 12th. You can spot these on Twitter by looking for the (#ACRbest) hashtag.

In a post hoc analysis of the phase 2 NOBILITY trial, researchers found that treatment with obinutuzumab—an antibody that targets a protein expressed on certain immune cells—was superior to placebo for preserving kidney function and preventing flares in patients with lupus nephritis, a kidney con

Dr. Jack Cush reviews this past week's news on RheumNow.com and suggests a learning plan for those wanting to consume the upcoming ACR Convergence 2023 meeting.